


Accepting Publicity

by xmypandabear



Series: The Publicity Verse [2]
Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Pepper Potts, Banter, Bonding, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Honesty, Humor, Infinity War has no place here, Injury, Iron-Dad, Light Angst, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Self-Esteem Issues, Social Media, Spidey-Son, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony is a hero to all nerds, hero - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-16 05:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15430101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xmypandabear/pseuds/xmypandabear
Summary: "Pro tip: saying it's nothing only makes someone more curious," he leant his hip against the nearby table, mind already doing the math and coming to an unsettling conclusion. "Kid, don't tell me you were at the 2010 Expo."The kid opened his mouth, shut it, then said, "Is this like the whole, 'don't do anything I would and wouldn't do' or...?""Jesus."//The one where Tony doesn't believe he's a hero and can't handle having it thrown in his face, Pepper is Tony's Big Damn Hero and Peter is asked to help start Iron-Man's social media accounts (and is probably a hero, but that's irrelevant right now).





	Accepting Publicity

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I needed an interlude to lead into the next story of Peter actually having control of Iron-Man's social media because... fun stuff begins then. And then I saw this idea that Tony finds out he's been Peter's hero since the Expo and this was born. It's a bit of fluff, primarily, with a tiny hint of angst, to connect the last story and the next.

“Mr Stark!”

Tony started, banged his knee on the table and cursed.

“Mr Stark I just heard from Miss Potts oh man I’m _so_ excited if it’s true!” Peter skidded to a halt in front of him and started bouncing from foot to foot. “It is true right? She wasn’t just messing with me?”

“Pepper is a big fat dirty liar who revels in other people’s disappointment,” Tony deadpanned. Peter’s excitement morphed into such a horrified look of betrayal that Tony felt both amused and bad, and decided to put him out his misery. “Nah, it’s all true, except for the part about the monkey and camel, I _told_ Bruce to stay away from those kinds of experiments, but did he listen?” he sighed dramatically and shook his head in disappointment. “No one ever listens, kid.”

His amusement grew when Peter stared at him, clearly uncertain how to respond. He could almost see the debate going on in the teenager’s brain (and a small part of him wondered how and when he’d come to know Peter so well he could tell something like that, which he firmly ignored).

“I listen to you?” When Tony raised his eyebrows, Peter said, “Like, you told me not to touch that?” he gestured to the table at the back of the lab where the more dangerous materials and experiments were conducted.

“I told you not to do anything stupid.”

“Right, and touching that would be stupid, so…”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “You realise that rule applies outside the lab too? For example, when little Spiderlings go out on patrol and get injured badly enough to bleed through their clothes.” He nodded to the slowly-growing red stain on the side of the kid’s t-shirt. Peter looked down, blanched, then tried to pretend he wasn’t panicking.

“It’s ketchup?”

_This damn kid_.

“Sit and lift your shirt,” he ordered and fetched the first aid kit (for emergencies, a rule enforced by Pepper after a few… incidents), ignoring the _it’s not that bad_ and _it’ll heal_ babble in preference of manhandling the kid into a chair. One gesture later and Peter was scowling while holding up his shirt. The wound was weeping, but the edges had already started to scab over thanks to the kid’s enhanced healing.

Tony tried to ignore his shaking hands as he knelt and started to apply some antiseptic cream. When the kid flinched, he scrambled for a distraction.

“What were you and Pepper talking about that got you so excited anyway?” The question sunk in and then he said, “Hold up, since when do you talk to Pep before seeing me?”

"Since I'm going to be flower-girl at your wedding?" Peter gave him a look that said it should be obvious. Tony chuckled, but when the kid didn't join in he realised it wasn't a joke.

"So what's the story behind that?" he asked. He was well-aware it had come out of the WIRED video, but clearly he'd missed the part where joke turned to reality. "You got some unfulfilled dreams as a kid you want realised or -?"

Peter shrugged and winced, prompting Tony to speed up a little. "We're not thinking I'd follow Miss Potts down the aisle or anything, just like maybe I'd hang above throwing flowers out or whatever, but people would have to know about me being Spider-Man so... actually we've been talking more about decorations 'cause I could get to all the hard to reach places, you know? Sticky sticky," he waggled his fingers at Tony. "Oh! We were looking at some napkin designs - Mr Stark, you grew up fancy, why are there so many folds?" Now the kid just looked bewildered.

"I'm stopping you there bud," Tony held up a hand and Peter quietened. "For my sanity, we're just gonna skip over how weirdly involved you are in this wedding -"

"But Miss Potts asked -!"

"- and jump straight to what it was she said that you got so worked up about." He finished applying the cream and pressed a dressing against the wound.

Peter sucked in a breath, before saying through gritted teeth, "I'm not worked up."

"You came in like an excited puppy - this barging into my lab's getting to be a habit, you realise?"

"I did it like one time! And - and she said you were doing the Stark Expo again in a couple of months."

Finally done treating the wound, Tony got to his feet and had to suppress his own wince when his back protested and his knee cracked. He got a disinfectant wipe for his own hands and marvelled at the things he put up with for this kid, before saying, "That's what got you so excited?"

"Yeah!" Peter lit up. He leapt out of the seat as if he didn't have a gaping wound in his side. "I haven't been since I was uh - nine? Ten? My aunt and uncle didn't want to risk it after -" he broke off suddenly. Tony prepared himself; this had happened often enough he'd learnt he usually didn't like what followed.

"After what?"

"After we... had the best time ever?" Tony gave him a _look_ and Peter wilted. "It's nothing, honest, they're just over-protective -"

"Pro tip: saying it's nothing only makes someone more curious," he leant his hip against the nearby table, mind already doing the math and coming to an unsettling conclusion. "Kid, don't tell me you were at the 2010 Expo."

The kid opened his mouth, shut it, then said, "Is this like the whole, 'don't do anything I would and wouldn't do' or...?"

" _Jesus_ ," Tony twisted and clenched his fist, wanting to punch something. He forcibly exhaled and tried to calm his suddenly racing heart, before turning back to Peter and saying, "I'm sorry."

"It's - it's not that big a deal sir, really," Peter said, a little too fast and desperate, and Tony made more of an effort to regain his composure. Peter only ever called him 'sir' when things were Not Okay. "We were fine afterwards, just a few bruises and concussions -"

"Concussions? Christ..." He felt strangely light-headed and had to sit down in the chair Peter'd recently vacated. So much had gone on that night and in the days following that he hadn't given any thought to the civilians who'd been there. Stark Industries had paid out for any damages caused, including hospital fees if necessary, somehow managed to avoid law suits and moved on - except now, of course, because this was his shitty life, it turned out Peter Parker had been there that night.

The idea that the kid could have been just another statistic on the casualty list made him sick.

"Did your aunt and uncle get the compensation money?" he checked and, even though Peter nodded, he made plans to have extra put into May's bank account. "The concussion didn't affect you at all? In schooling? Grades?" he tried to recall what happened to kids if they got hit on the head too young, hell, was ten even too young? He had no fucking clue -

"Oh it wasn't - I was fine, I didn't get injured," Peter said. "My aunt, she was, and my uncle got some bruises but I was fine because -" he broke off again and looked down at his feet.

" _Peter_."

The kid took a deep breath, lifted his head and squared his shoulders, then said, "I was fine because you saved me, Mr Stark."

...

"What?"

"There was this drone which tried to - to attack us, I remember it turning to look and - and then you swooped down and you destroyed it before it could do anything..." Peter scratched the back of his neck.

"Wait wait wait," Tony narrowed his eyes. "One of the drones attacked you? They were only supposed to target me, or the suit. They shouldn't have gone after you."

"Dude, seriously? But - _ohhhhhhh_ ," the kid had his realisation for about two seconds before, to Tony's surprise, a red hue crossed over his entire face. "O-oh, man, that's..."

"Are you embarrassed? Why the hell are you embarrassed?"

Peter dithered for a moment, eyes darting around as if looking for an escape, but when he caught Tony's eyes, whatever he saw clearly resigned himself to his fate. "I was wearing an Iron-Man helmet," he muttered and crossed his arms, the red on his cheeks darkening. "Uh, I also had a gauntlet too and I wasn't - everyone was running away around me and I didn't really understand what was happening but I knew they were bad, and that day, I'd met you earlier you'd patted my head and I thought 'what would Iron-Man do'? and -"

"Don't tell me," Tony could guess what was coming. Some days, he felt nostalgic for a time when knowing this kid didn't threaten to give him a heart attack.

"Yeah," the kid said. "I sort of did this, and..." he held up his arm in Tony's typical aiming pose.

Well, at least Peter had been bravely stupid long before he'd met Tony.

"So where do I come into this?"

"Oh! Well, actually, now, or then I suppose ‘cause it’s – a-anyway! A blast came from behind and shot the drone down. I thought it was me, at first, and I didn't really get it until I was older, but you must've come in at exactly the right time. You turned to me and said, 'Nice work kid' before flying away." The kid smiled softly, eyes going distant in memory.

Huh.

“Friday, go through the footage from the suit that night and bring up any part which involved a kid.”

“Yes boss.”

Peter hunched in on himself, and Tony realised it had come across like he didn’t believe him.

“Come on Pete, you really think I’m gonna pass up a chance to see the baby Spiderling?” he smirked and the tension in Peter’s shoulders eased. It was a secondary motive though; his primary was to see for himself Peter came out unscathed (he knew he wouldn’t be able to quell the anxiety until he saw the evidence from back then). A moment later a video played on one of his holographic screens and they both turned to watch the footage. Seeing it on video brought the memory back in a flash – spotting Peter by chance, admiring his bravery – and he froze the video on a close-up of the kid. With the Iron-Man helmet hiding any discerning features he couldn’t know for sure, but… “That’s you?” he checked and, when Peter nodded, muttered, “You’re tinier than a watch screw.”

“Yeah,” Peter groaned dramatically and slumped against a nearby table. “I used to look younger than my age.”

“Used to?”

“Dude, not cool!"

Tony chuckled and zoomed in on the frozen image as much as he could, studying the helmet. “Must’ve been a damn good replica.”

“I’d saved my pocket money up for months to buy it,” the kid admitted as he studied the ground intently. “We’d only got it a few days before, just in time for the expo.” That made Tony feel too warm and fuzzy for his liking, so he cleared his throat and said,

“What, having Cap’s shield wasn’t enough?”

Peter blinked. “I didn’t have his shield.”

“This is a judgement free zone kid, you don’t have to hide -”

“But I – I’ve never wanted his shield.” Tony raised an eyebrow and Peter confessed, “Okay I didn’t mean that but I’m serious Mr Stark, I never bought his shield. I already had the most important thing.”

Tony wracked his brain. “The outfit?”

“… No…” Now Peter was staring at Tony like he’d never seen him before. It hit Tony in a flash. He clicked his fingers, pointed at Peter and said,

“Thor’s hammer!”

“… Okay so I did buy that later but it wasn’t -” Peter huffed, rubbed his forehead like he had a headache and then shot Tony a thoughtful look. “I think I get what Miss Potts was saying now.” Tony decided he needed to start paying more attention to this blossoming relationship as Peter crossed his arms over his chest, raised his chin defiantly and said, “I bought Iron-Man first because as much as I loved all of the Avengers, Iron-Man was my favourite hero.” His voice was strong, though his cheeks had gone red again as he added, “He still is.”

Oh, no.

No no. Nope, this wasn't going to happen. Tony had _not_ started this with the intention to get into things like – like _admiration_. Sure, he’d known about it, had even played on it to convince Peter to follow him to Germany (and it would have been hard to miss given everything that happened since), but there had been an understanding it wouldn’t be _voiced_ , that Tony wouldn’t ever have to confront it, so he did what he always did. “Good to know you’ve always been a poor judge of character. Hey, speaking of, whatever happened to your girlfriend?” he saw the confusion on Peter's face. “The one whose dad turned out to be your bad guy? I’ve always thought those odds were ridiculous.”

“She wasn’t my girlfriend!” Peter frowned. “And what’s that got to do with anything? She was nice!”

“I’m just pointing out kid, there’s these supposed spidey senses that didn’t go off -”

“Why would they go off about her? There wasn’t any problem!” he flapped his arms around the area in indignation. “And stop calling them spidey senses!”

Tony shrugged. “Hey, I’m not the one who’s gonna be wondering whether my next girlfriend is -”

“Oh man wait wait wait wait wait!” Peter had frozen mid arm wave as he stared at Tony with wide eyes. “Miss Potts warned me about this!”

"... F.R.I.D.A.Y, alert me whenever the brat and Pep are in the same room."

"Yes boss."

“You’re deflecting because you’re uncomfortable!” Peter took a few steps forward, expression triumphant, and Tony instinctively took a few steps back, then cursed himself as Peter immediately halted because of _course_ the kid was observant. Why couldn’t he be insensitive and oblivious like a lot of other teenagers? “Mr Stark -”

“I meant it about being a poor judge,” Tony said, hoping to nip this in the bud before the discussion could get any further. “No one with any sense would make me their hero.”

Peter blinked. “Uh… so you’re saying millions of people are wrong?”

“I’m sure millions of people are wrong about a lot of things."

“I mean technically that’s true _but_ are you saying millions of people are wrong about you being a hero?” Peter paused but before Tony could reply, added, “You realise the word is actually in the whole ‘superhero’ name thing?”

“It’s all moot because millions of people don’t believe I’m a hero,” Tony said to avoid the other valid point the kid raised.

“ _Dude_ …” To his surprise, Peter moved over to the nearest screen and, after a second to admire the hologram, started tapping and swiping. “I’ve gotta show you something.” He watched as Peter went to Google and typed in _tony stark hero buzzfeed_ and then clicked on the first result. "Read it," the kid said and stepped back from the screen. Tony reluctantly came forward and blinked in surprise at the title.

_21 Reasons Tony Stark is Actually a Wonderful Role Model_

"Good joke Underoos," he said, glancing over at Peter.

"It's not a joke," Peter replied and used his finger to scroll down. "Look at the reasons."

"Embraces his flaws... Super smart... pulls off some sick moves - none of these are serious Pete," he shook his head. "Though I'll accept best facial expressions, those are some good screen caps -”

Peter took back control of the screen. "That's not the only one." He went back to Google and clicked and opened several websites, across Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter - even some blogs and news articles, and then gestured. Tony only skimmed the titles of each page or article and was taken aback even so. _Why I think Tony Stark is the Best Superhero_ was one. _Tony Stark is a True Hero_ was another.

_Tony Stark at His Most Heroic_ | _Tony Stark's Evolution is the Most Heroic Thing of All_ | _Tony Stark: What Makes Iron-Man a Hero?_ | _Anthony Edward Stark Is My Hero and Here's Why_ | _Why We Love Tony Stark As A Hero_ | _Why is Iron-Man Every Entrepreneur's Hero..._

"This is - it's just... small things, they're not - they don't know the real me, kid, if they did they wouldn't be saying those things."

"I know the real you," Peter said quietly. Tony couldn't speak, panic starting to claw at his chest as the kid stepped closer. "You're still my hero, Mr Stark. You always have been."

Desperate, he said, "But Cap - you spent that week together, and you -"

"That was like one of the coolest things ever in my entire life," Peter admitted. "But it was also so scary man oh my god that whole week -"

"When you met him, you said you were a big fan -"

"I'm a big fan of all the Avengers," the kid said then, with a thoughtful look added, "Plus, that could've just been the indoctrination from school talking. How could you tell, do you think?" For once, Tony was the speechless one and could only watch as Peter threw off the _possible brainwashing_ with a shrug and, “Anyway. You did a lot of bad things, but you’re trying to make up for them and I mean Cap’s done some bad things but do you see him trying to make up for it?”

Tony should really correct that because Steve was probably feeling immense guilt over everything that had happened, but he was frozen.

“But the biggest difference is like… you’re a superhero because of your brain, Mr Stark. You didn’t get drugged up or any special training or be born a God or be born with an unnatural talent or whatever– you were just smart, and you decided to save the world.”

“It’s hardly saving when you’re only making up for what you’ve already ruined -”

“Argh…” Peter ran his hands through his hair. “Oh man okay I totally didn’t want to have to tell you this _ever_ but fine, if it helps – look, before I was bitten by the spider, I was this skinny kid with glasses who couldn’t run without needing to take an inhaler. I spent most of my time in the robotics lab with Ned because it was the only safe space from the bullies – you know, ‘cause it was so dangerous.”

“There’s no way a spider bite changed all that,” Tony said.

“It did,” Peter said it so calmly Tony had to believe it and, suddenly, getting Peter checked out properly for just what the spider bite had done moved to the top of Tony’s priority list. “I’m telling you ‘cause look, Captain America is legit amazing. He’s brave and strong and just, he always seems to know what to do, and he can kick the bad guys asses with one punch. He’s _the_ American Hero, the person we’re all meant to be like and has been for a very long time, but most nerds aren’t brave, or strong, or just and… well, none of us really thought we could be like Cap. But Tony Stark?” Peter shook his head. “That’s a different story.”

Odd, Tony's mouth had gone dry.

“The suit didn’t make you a superhero,” Peter said, then back-tracked. “Well okay it kind of did, but the suit didn’t come out of nothing, you _invented_ it. You created it and kept making it better and better and you only had your brain. Not some serum or extra enhancement -” he hesitated. “Okay so the money could be considered that I guess but otherwise…”

“Alcohol too,” Tony added then, realising he was still talking to a kid, said, “I didn’t say that.”

Peter mimed zipping his lips up, then said, “So, yeah. When you’re being picked on in school ‘cause people don’t like how smart you are… knowing there’s a superhero who’s also smart… it helps. But that's just me. All these people online have hundreds of different reasons."

Well then.

"One sec," Tony said and turned his back to Peter. A hand came up to press against his chest and he bent over slightly, trying to ease the pain in his chest from his racing heart, but it only prompted his arm to start aching instead. It wasn't a panic attack, but it could turn into one - feeling Peter's eyes on his back helped because he refused to have one in front of the kid, but also made it worse because it was the pressure of Peter's expectations that were suffocating him.

"Tony?"

Of course Pepper would appear now of all times.

"O-oh, hi Miss Potts," Peter sounded nervous.

"Boss, Peter Parker and Pepper Potts are in the same room together," F.R.I.D.A.Y helpfully informed.

"... I got that, thanks."

Tony forced himself to look up and meet Pepper's eyes. Confusion and concern changed into realisation and, proving why she was the best fucking person ever, she stepped forward past him and stood next to Peter, managing to break the line of sight and give Tony a much needed chance to get himself together while distracting Peter by asking,

"What's this?"

"Ah... it's what people only think of Mr Stark," Peter still sounded nervous but a bit of enthusiasm came back when Pepper showed interest. "I was showing how people think really highly of him..."

"So I see," she hummed and, presumably, was reading them. Tony used the time to regain his composure. When his breathing had slowed down and the tightness in his chest eased, he finally found the courage to turn around and look at the pair. Pepper was leaning close to the hologram while Peter fidgeted slightly behind her. Eventually, Pepper asked, "Are there any more?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, tons. Like there's so much support out there it's crazy."

"You don't really see this on the news."

"It doesn't matter what the news is saying really," Peter explained. "Well, it does, but what happens on social media and stuff can affect what happens off it whereas it's not really true the other way. Like people can get fired for what they post or if there's enough internet support for something, like a TV show, it might change opinions."

"Hmm," Pepper turned to look directly at Peter now and Tony recognised her shrewd expression for a new business deal. "Do you have a good handle on social media?"

"... I mean, I guess?" the teenager shrugged.

"Things like this don't usually reach us. Our publicity team is specialised to news articles and interviews, and we have a specialised group for the company's social media, but this kind of personal support and interaction..." she tilted her head. "If I said we were thinking of making social media accounts for Iron-Man, would you be willing to help?"

"Like... help decide what's posted?" Peter's eyes were the widest they'd ever been.

"Now wait a minute," Tony protested, because surely the opinion of Iron-Man was important. He was ignored.

"Amongst other things."

"Yes oh my god yes!"

"Darling, babe, love of my life -"

"Why don't you come to my office and we can sort out some of the details?"

"Sure!"

Clearly, Tony and their 'hero' discussion had been forgotten by Peter and, judging from Pepper's wink, that had been one of her goals. He appreciated the chance to slink away and recover but, as she started leading Peter out, he felt he couldn't leave it completely unaddressed. He reached out a hand, put it on Peter's shoulder and the kid stilled and looked up at him curiously. Tony opened his mouth, but he had no idea what to say, so he just squeezed the kid's shoulder and hoped that would be enough. Peter smiled back, but there was a knowing look in his eyes like he understood Tony had a problem and it was okay (maybe it wasn't so bad he wasn't as oblivious as other teenagers after all).

"We'll talk later kid," Tony promised as he let go.

"Yeah," Peter waved as he left the room with Pepper, who shot Tony a questioning look on her way out. Tony nodded to her and she smiled back before disappearing.

He sank down into the same chair as earlier and put his face in his hands. He wished for a drink (and he was just gonna ignore this social media nonsense), then decided to distract himself by sorting out what he'd have to do to get Peter and the effects of his spider bite checked out. Then he remembered just how much time Peter and Pepper had been spending together recently.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, monitor their conversation just in case."

"Yes boss."

**Author's Note:**

> Credit: All those articles are real articles people wrote, including the Buzzfeed one. Cacaw. 
> 
> As much as I really really wanted to have Tony believe he's a hero because Peter believes it... one conversation isn't going to change that. It's gonna be something that Peter ends up working on throughout this series (which is why Peter lets it go so easily here, 'cause lets be real Tony cannot handle that kind of stuff on a good day sooo... there's that to look forwards to). So the title is like, Peter accepting the social media, while Tony can't accept the publicity of people thinking he's a hero...
> 
> I'm pretty nervous about this one, so please let me know what you think! :)
> 
> Follow me [on Tumblr](https://xmypandabear.tumblr.com/post/176125416941/the-publicity-verse-master-list-of-fics) for deleted scenes, sneak peeks and other stories


End file.
